Sunday, February 17, 2013

Runaway Comeback by Sandra Ottey

Runaway Comeback’s heroine is Rose Thorn, a high school dropout who flees her native Jamaica after years of physical and mental exploitation and voyaging over intercontinental waters way too many times. She hides out in Brooklyn with her young daughter. Rose believes she was dealt an evil hand in marriage because she was a high school dropout, teenage bride and mother. In her quest to realize her dream of pursuing a college degree, she is reunited with her soul mate, Calvin Jones. Rose is ready to divorce her conniving husband, Donovan, but is she really ready to marry Calvin?

Forced to return to Jamaica, Rose finds herself trapped in a devastating situation that could jeopardize a lifetime of happiness with Calvin. With the help of her grandmother who raised her, Rose quickly realizes that in order to make a comeback she must turn around and go back to the place where it all started, the place where she first believed, the place where trouble had come and uprooted her.

Set against a backdrop of rolling hills in Jamaica and the pavements of Brooklyn, the storyline is thought-provoking and enthralling with true-to-life characters and situations. Runaway Comebacksizzles with secrets, payback, and redemption.

Excerpt

Rose Thorn tapped her heel impatiently on the aircraft’s carpeting. Was this plane ever going to land? She shifted in her seat against the confines of her seatbelt as fear slithered down her spine. She swiveled her head for the umpteenth time and let her eyes roam behind her midnight-dark shades as she surveyed the other passengers on board. She still didn’t notice a familiar face and no one seemed to recognize her either. Still, anxiety continued to hold her in its jagged jaws.

Rose tapped her heel some more and nibbled nervously on her bottom lip. She dipped into her handbag and retrieved a small mirror. The curly blond wig under her wide-brimmed Fedora was not her style. Even with the aircraft’s cool temperature her scalp was sweating underneath it, or maybe it was just her nerves, she thought. She pulled the hat halfway down her forehead, just above her professionally pruned eyebrows. She painted on midnight purple lipstick against her caramel-colored skin to add to her getaway disguise. The dark Addams Family–style lip color matched her strapless jumpsuit, but it wasn’t on her list of lipstick shades. She shrugged. Personal fashion was not a priority today. It wasn’t even an option. Today was runaway day, and she was dressed for the part.

In the window seat of the aircraft her daughter, Crystal, tugged at the floppy straw hat Rose had placed on her daughter’s head. Rose had helped her put on a change of clothes she had stashed in their small piece of luggage. On the way to the airport, in the backseat of the getaway car, Crystal had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing a faded jeans pantsuit, white camisole and black strappy sandals.
She remembered the horrific story she had concocted and told Crystal’s teacher earlier that day just outside the classroom door while Crystal’s friends gazed up from their test papers at her with innocent, inquiring eyes. She had shown up at the school well over an hour before it let out. She had painted on the most distressing facial expression and told Crystal’s math teacher in a tear-jerking voice, “There has been an accident and my um…my husband…he’s hurt and… he’s asking for Crystal.”